logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

A Very Different Kind of Community Fundraising

Erin Rubin
January 10, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

January 9, 2018; Greenfield Reporter

Love in the Name of Christ (Love INC) of Greater Hancock County in Indiana made their fundraising goal just under the wire this year—and when their bottom line was covered, they immediately shared their good fortune with their constituents in a spontaneous gesture of generosity they hope will result in greater community support.

Initially, Love INC feared they might have to discontinue some of their programming. The organization runs on a shoestring budget; they don’t pay to rent space, and their Form 990 lists no paid staff. Since they receive no grants or program revenue, only donations, they rely on good relations with their community to get the funding, space, and work hours they need to stay running.

Then, on November 27th, they announced that a Mr. Robert Wortman had offered a $10,000 matching grant to the organization. A month later, they were in the clear: Donors went above and beyond the call, and Love INC raised $45,000. (The entire budget for 2015, the last year a Form 990 is available, was $97,623.)

Now, instead of holding their annual fundraising banquet, they’re offering the banquet for free to their community.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

It’s a generous and canny move for a small organization with a small budget and a close connection to their constituents. By making the banquet free, they may attract a greater audience to see what they’re doing and grow support for their programs.

“We’re hoping people feel led to donate to the ministry once they see what we are doing through God and through the churches,” executive director Karla Whisenand said. “We honestly don’t have a goal…. The community has been so generous; we’re so grateful, we don’t want to set any expectations.”

Wortman is a generous member of the Hancock community; he’s supported a scholarship and a cancer center at the local hospital. His donation to Love INC was honor of his mother, Velma Davis Wortman, who turned 107 in 2017.

Other unusual fundraising efforts have made headlines this year, such as the surfing dog and the lip sync video. But this particular effort—offering food and fellowship with no guarantee of ROI—might be just the thing for Greater Hancock’s community to start the new year with a little bit of hope.—Erin Rubin

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Erin Rubin

Erin Rubin was an assistant editor at the Nonprofit Quarterly, where she was in charge of online editorial coordination and community building. Before joining NPQ, in 2016, Erin worked as an administrator at Harvard Business School and as an editorial project manager at Pearson Education, where she helped develop a digital resource library for remedial learners. Erin has also worked with David R. Godine, Publishers, and the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. As a creative lead with the TEDxBeaconStreet organizing team, she worked to help innovators and changemakers share their groundbreaking ideas and turn them into action.

More about: wealthy donorsFundraisingManagement and LeadershipNonprofit NewsReligious/Faith-Based

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Salvadoran Foreign Agent Law Threatens Human Rights Movements
Devon Kearney
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb Plutocracy
Alan Davis
Healing-Centered Leadership: A Path to Transformation
Shawn A. Ginwright
Into the Fire: Lessons from Movement Conflicts
Ingrid Benedict, Weyam Ghadbian and Jovida Ross
How Nonprofits Can Truly Advance Change
Hildy Gottlieb

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Salvadoran Foreign Agent Law Threatens Human Rights...
Devon Kearney
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb...
Alan Davis

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.